Astros’ move to AL could be imminent

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Major League Baseball is discussing with prospective Astros owner Jim Crane possible compensation for agreeing to move the team to the American League.

Three people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday that MLB has broached the subject with Crane, who in May reached an agreement to purchase the team from Drayton McLane for $680 million. One industry insider said MLB representatives floated $50 million as a possible compensation package for Crane and his group of investors to move the team from the National League. It is not known if MLB has formally offered the $50 million, or if such compensation would come from a reduction in the sale price or by other means.

The discussions would suggest that MLB commissioner Bud Selig has moved past vetting the Crane group and will attempt to finalize the sale.

“Baseball seems very interested to cause this to happen,” an industry insider familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday.

That would constitute a significant shift from August, when MLB removed a scheduled vote to approve the sale from the owners’ meetings agenda. A person familiar with top MLB officials’ thinking said concerns about past business practices of Crane’s companies remain a point in contention in approving the deal.

Another industry insider contends MLB has been using past EEOC complaints and settlements involving war profiteering as “a bargaining chip” to leverage Crane into accepting a move to the AL as a pre-condition to taking over the team. Selig and the MLB Players Association have stated a desire for two 15-team leagues that will allow for the addition to two wild-card playoff teams. One of the 16 NL teams would have to change leagues for that to happen, and there have been no volunteers. With a pending sale, coming off the worst season in franchise history (56-106), the Astros would appear to be susceptible to persuasion to sever ties with the NL that go back to 1962.

“It’s not like he was an unknown,” the industry insider said, noting that Crane was one of the finalists in the purchase of the Texas Rangers in 2010. “They wouldn’t have had it on the agenda if they hadn’t finished their homework. It was pulled because the (MLB) negotiators figured this is an important bargaining chip (in the pending labor negotiations), and the only way to deliver it was with Crane.”

Because of that, because the Astros’ purchase agreement is $206 million above a 2011 valuation of the franchise as calculated by Forbes magazine, the insider said Crane “has the upper hand and the leverage” in negotiations with MLB. On May 16, Crane and McLane announced an agreement for a purchase amount second in MLB history to the $845 million that the Ricketts family paid for the Chicago Cubs in 2009.

“MLB needs him more than he needs them,” the insider said. “The only way they can deliver the 15-15 (league configuration) and the playoff concept is by getting Crane to agree.”

The New York Post reported that Crane, a cargo-shipping magnate who is making his fourth attempt to purchase a major league team, is asking for a $50 million reduction in the sale price. According to the Post report, Selig “is pushing” owners to grant the 75 percent approval required to complete the sale. The Post quotes one person saying there is a “65 to 70 percent chance” that MLB will reach a deal with Crane.

“The moves are in (MLB’s) court,” a person with knowledge of the situation told the Chronicle.

According to that person, MLB officials are trying to pressure McLane into facilitating a deal by reducing the sale price. McLane said MLB has not asked him to reduce the sales price and rejected the notion he’s under any pressure to do so. The agreement between Crane and McLane expires on Nov. 30.

“That’s a negotiation with Major League Baseball and Jim,” McLane said. “He’s still in the approval process. It’s more their deal. We have a deal with Jim and his group. They’re in the approval process, discussing various things.

“We’re not changing the sale price. The engagement is between Jim and his group and baseball. They have not talked to us to reduce the sale price.”